Folklore elements in the novels of Kemal Tahir

Kemal Tahir used the elements of the Turkish Folk Science intensively in his works. He mainly focused on novels, mythologies, Anatolian legends, stories of Anatolian people, tales of Dede Korkut and of Keloglan. People?s narratives were also used in Tahir?s novels when needed becasuse he was interested in people and their narratives.The novel Devlet Ana (Mother State) is an important novel because it contains Shamanist elements and the language of Dede Korkut stories.Anonymous folk poetry, Islamic mysticism (sufism) and `Aşık? (lover) tradition of folk music were the other elements of Turkish folk litereature that were used in his novels.The author enriched his works with the aspects of people?s (Anatolian) culture. The main motives behind this were that he was an excellent observer and was interested in the relationship between individual and society.People beliefs were also important part of his works. Belifs about animals, witchcraft, amulet, good or bad fortunes, dream, genie, evil eye, fortunetelling and superstitions make his novels mysterious. Beliefs about Hızır and oblation, heaven and hell and the sings of Doomsday reflect not only the views of the novels? characters but also the views of the author?s on religion.In his novels, the author analyzed the customs and traditions of the critical times of life. Marriage beliefs and practices were also important part of his novels. The novel Sağırdere (Deaf River) is quite rich in terms of marriage practices. The customs of the daily life in his novels made the cultural identities of the novel heroes more specific.Expressions, formal numbers, language and narration, social norms, public theatre, public knowledge, social solidarity and cooperation, festivals, educational institutions, games, entertainment, public arts and professions, sports, public architecture and ethnic groups were the other cultural constituents in his novels.The author used the materialistic and moralistic ingredients of the culture (Anatolian) to create new images in the valley of modern literature, which added more richness and satisfaction to his novels.